Adjustable wrench having inner jaw actuated by pivotal handle



Feb. 16, 1954 E. E. FLORENCE 2,669,146

ADJUSTABLE WRENCH HAVING INNER JAW ACTUATED BY PIVOTAL HANDLE Filed April 22 ,1952

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/4 AT [pH/[1715' Patented Feb. 16, 1954 um'reo STATES Pi lTE-NT OFFICE arcane ADJUSTABLE-WRENCH HAVINGPI'NNER; JAW- ACTUATED BY PIVOTAL HANDLE Ester-E. Florence; Buflal'ojMinn.

Application April 22,-' 1952, Serial No. 28-3 597 4 Claims.

invention relates to an; adjustable. wrench and; moreparticularly to. that. type. of adjustable wrench which. can beimovedL rapidly and" directly toitsnewly adjusted positiom Itis a. p'rincipaL object. ofthev invention to provide. for a quickly ad'jiis'tabl'e wrench which can be brought. to the proper size. for engaging. and. turning. apiece of work. by simply making a. single maneuver, and which will be self-tightening if pressure, is. applied to, the work, themore effort exerted. causing the wrench to grip the work all the more firmlygtheiwrenchitsel'f becoming, more firmlyseatedl It another object to, provide for a simple ad'- jiistabl'e wrench. inwhich. the handle is pivot'a'lly' attached. to the. wrench,..fjor. applying a wedging stress. upon. the wrench jaws. in. contact with. the worl':v and at. the. same time applying rotational stres upon .theworki,

It. still another object of the. invention to furnish a. wrench of the. class. described in which the portions adaptedfto be graspedmanua'lly are shielded so. as. to prevent pinching. or crushing, the handoffthe operator. v

Itlis afurther objectito. provi'defor a quick ad'- justingandi self;tightening wrench. which is interchangeable froma .pipe' wrench" to. a nut type.

It isstill a. further objectofthe invention to provide. for a simpleiand effi'cient' wrench. which is. extremely versatile. in..it's application and;being' at the same time quickly adjustable: to meet such variousv applications.

' These and. otherobjects and advantagesof my invention willmore fully appear from the following. description made. in connection with the accempanyin drawings. .wherein. like. reference characters refer to similar -parts;throughout the:

several'view andf in .whi'ch Fig. l." is a side elevation of my adjustable":

wrench. showing the jaw mechanism in open position and in normal" spring pressed relation with the.hand-1e,v the latter having" a portion. broken" away;

Fig. 21 is. a top view of. ,thewrench as shown .E'ig..3 is a side. elevation. of my wrench with a portion of the handle broken awayan'dishowing' Referrin now more, particularly to the drawing, my novel. adjustable. wrench is shown innormal non-operative. position in. Fig. 1. The, wrench comprisesv an. elongated body structure B which has in turn a fixed jaw I0 extending laterally from. the. general longitudinal direction of the elongat'e'dibody B? and a handle, H pivotall'y connected intermediate the ends of the elongated" body. The pivot. structure may comprise a knuckle, joint having, semicircular outer bearing surfaces. lZ'forming anintegralipart'of the handle H and a cooperating semicircular inner portion f3 integrally connected with the rack portion M which forms. a portion of the fixed jaw H]. Details of the knuckle joint are shown in the vertical section of Fig. 4. through the: knuckle joint for rotation of the handle H. through a small arc. Longitudinally disposed in the rack. portion I4 of the wrench is a groove [6. A. correspondin groove It may be formed in the opposite side of the rack member I G as shown in detailinFig. 6'. The rack l4 hasat its'upper surface a series of toothed elements IT which may be notched into the upper surface of the rack in alignment with the upper surface of handl 11. A gripping plate [8 may bev removaby attachIed' to the fixed jaw lllwithit's gripping face disposed in a rearward direction. Slidably' mounted upon theelongated' body' structure B of the wrench is an. adjustable jaw mechanism which is indicatedgenerally by'the letter M. The adjustable. jaw'mecha'nism comprises a supporting frame or. sleeve l9 which is slidably mounted. upon the elongated body structure B terminating at" its. upper portion. in two. upstanding flanges 2| as shown in Figs. 1 and 4. An indentation 22 is" formed in each flange of the sleeve member I9 and a movable jaw member 23' is pivotally mounted upon the sleeve l9 at 24.. The movable 411 jaw 23 may havesecured thereto at its uppermost surface a shield.25 which is adapted to overhe theupper edges. of the flange members 2! to prevent. the-fingers of the operator from becomin pinched or crushed. Details'of the shield and.- pivot arrangement are shown in Fig. 4. A leaf spring, 26' is mounted between the recessed portions 22, the end of which leaf spring bearsagainst the underside of the. jaw 23 at a point rearwardly of. the pivot 2.4". Apinionsector 2 1; lies, forwardly of the, pivot pin 24 and may be integrally-formed from. the movablejaw 23.. The

A pivot pin l5 extends" portion of the cooperating surface 29 of handle 1!. The leaf spring 38 maintains the handl H normally in aligned relation with the rack portion Hi, both said handle and rack portions engaging the bottom of sleeve 19. A rib Si is pressed into the upstanding flanges M at each side of sleeve 19 to cooperatively slide in groove or guide 16. The members I 2 of the knuckle joint prevent the entire adjustable jaw mechanism M from sliding back the entire length of handle H since the ribs 3| engage the knuckle joint during such rearward retraction of the adjustable jaw mechanism. Likewise, the forward travel of the adjustable jaw mechanism M maintains the pivot point within the sleeve structure since the jaw faces 18 and 32 come into engagement at the forward limit of travel of the movable jaw.

The wrench may be assembled and disassembled by moving the adjustable jaw mechanism M to its most forward position as previously described, at which position opposed openings 33 in the side flange members 2| of the sleeve. [9 will expose the pin 15. The pin 15 may be removed or inserted into the knuckle joint for disassembling or assembling the wrench. It will be noted that during normal usage of the wrench the pivot pin 15 and the entire knuckle joint thereabout will lie within the sleeve [9 which is essential to the operation of my wrench presently to be described.

During the use and operation of my adjustable wrench the operator grasps the adjustable jaw mechanism M and compresses the shield relative to the sleeve member If! so as to cause the leaf spring 26 to be depressed. The depression of leaf spring 25 will cause a rocking movement of movable jaw 23 about the pivot pin 24 which, in turn, will disengage the pinion sector 21 from the toothed rack I4, providing sufficient clearance for the adjustable jaw mechanism to be rapidly adjusted by a forwardly or backwardly sliding motion to the desired spacing between the jaw faces 18 and 32. A representative piece of work in the form of a pipe 34 is placed upon the rack M and in contact with the jaw face [8 of the fixed jaw Ill. The adjustable jaw mechanism is then brought up against the pipe 34 with the jaw face 32 in contact therewith. Upon release of the leaf spring 29 the pinion sector 21 will again engage the rack teeth I! as shown in Fig. 1 with the jaw teeth cooperatively gripping the pipe 34 as in Fig. 5. Upon upward stress against the handle ii the bearing surface 29 of handle I I will engage the cam surface 28 of the movable jaw 23. The spring 3!] will be in compressed re lation and direct pressure will be brought to bear upon the cam surface 28. The movable jaw 23 is thus caused to pivot about the pin 24 which in turn depresses the pinion sector 2'5 into firm engagement with the toothed rack M and at the same time tilts forwardly to a slight degree the jaw face 32 so as to grip more firmly the surface of pipe 36. Continued pressure upon the handle H will cause tighter gripping of the pipe jaws and at the same time a more firm setting between the pinion sector 2! and the toothed rack [4.

The jaw faces l8 and 32 may be removable as shown, having short studs 35 socketed in the jaw is and studs 36 socketed in the movable jaw 23. A spring clip 31 may secure the jaw face l8 to fixed jaw Iii and spring clip 38 may be employed to secure the jaw face 32 in position on movable jaw 23. Where it is desired to employ the wrench upon nuts or other pieces of work having plane surfaces the serrated jaw faces 1% and 32 may be rangement and proportion of the part without departing from the scope of my invention.

What I claim is: 1. An adjustable wrench, for turning a piece of work against stress, comprising an elongated rack having a laterally extending jaw attached at one end thereof and a handle member pivotally connected at the other end thereof, said handle member normally being in aligned relation with the general elongated disposition of said rack, an adjustable sleeve slidably mounted upon said handle and rack, and a second jaw rockably mounted upon said adjustable sleeve, said second jaw being normally spring pressed into secure engagement with said rack and rockable against spring pressure into disengagement therefrom, whereby said second jaw may be quickly adjusted according to the size of said piece of work.

2. An adjustable wrench, for turning a piece of work against stress, comprising an elongated rack having a laterally extending jaw fixed at the forward end thereof and a handle member pivotally connected at the rearward end thereof, said handle member normally being in aligned relation with the general elongated disposition of said rack, an adjustable sleeve slidably mounted upon said handle and rack, a second jaw rockably mounted upon said adjustable sleeve, a pinion sector fixed at a forward position to said second jaw, and a cam on said second jaw at the rearward end thereof for engagement with said handle whereby rotational pressure upon said handle will cause said second jaw to firmly grip both the rack and said piece of work disposed between the fixed jaw and the second jaw.

3. The subject matter of claim 2, and spring means for maintaining said handle member in normally aligned relation with said rack and for normally maintaining said pinion sector in engagement with said rack.

4. An adjustable wrench, for turning a piece of Work against stress'comprising an elongated body having a laterally extending jaw secured atone end thereof and a handle member pivotally connected at the other end thereof, an adjustable sleeve slidably mounted upon said elongated body, and extending laterally therefrom in the same direction as said jaw, a second jaw rockably mounted upon said adjustable sleeve at its laterally extending portion, said jaw being resiliently engaged with said elongated body under normal relaxed circumstances and being engageable by said handle member to rock said second jaw toward said first mentioned jaw While maintaining secure gripping relation with said elongated body.

ESTEL E. FLORENCE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,163,845 Oatman Dec. 14, 1915 1,180,904 Brunner Apr. 25, 1916 1,311,850 Wilkerson July 29, 1919 1,428,835 Borkman Sept. 12, 1922 1,544,000 Grady June.30, 19 25 

